Wednesday Falcon Watch – 1/15/14 – All Three Rochester Falcons Seen!
By Rochester Falcon Watcher Carol P.
The temperature was 31 (F) degrees when I started and it dropped to 30 (F) degrees when I was leaving the downtown area at 4:50 pm.
Sunrise at 7:37 am. Sunset at 5:00 pm! Yay!
When I got out of work, I did my normal falcon watch route. 1st Kodak Park, no falcons seen.
Next I headed over to the BS location. I found both Pigott and Dot.ca on the east side of the building. Dot.ca was eating on the east end higher roof. Pigott flew in and landed next to him. She grabbed the food and there was a short tug-o-war. Dot.ca was able to get a piece of the meal. He then flew up to the tree ledge to continue to eat. Pigott finished eating first and flew up to ledge above Dot.ca. A Crow flew too close and Pigott took off and chased it through the trees on the northeast side of the bldg. There was no vocalization. The Crow narrowly escaped by diving into the wooded area with Pigott hot on its tail.
She broke off the chase and returned to the east end roof she had been on when I arrived. Dot.ca finished his meal and just watched as Pigott walked around the roof, picking at leftovers. She flew around the building and ended up on the tree ledge to the right of Dot.ca. This is where I left them to go downtown to look for Beauty. Here are some pics of Pigott and Dot.ca
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I left Pigott and Dot.ca at BS and headed downtown to look for Beauty. I found here up inside the OCSR elevator shaft on the south side ledge.
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It was getting close to 5:00 pm and the sun was setting, so it was time for me to end my watch. I did check out the Charlotte area and Russell Station on the way home, but could not find Billie or any other falcons or Snowy Owls. I was very happy to have seen all three of the Rochester Peregrine Falcons. Goodnight everyone!
January 15th, 2014 at 10:20 PM
Hey Carol…thanks for your report. It is always appreciated. Did you see Kate St. John’s post today? The PA falcons are making contact too, and as she said, we are only 8-10 weeks away from eggs!! It will be here before we know it. Take care and stay warm.
Kathy
January 15th, 2014 at 11:07 PM
Thanks so much for all you do in watching and reporting about the falcons. It’s particularly nice to hear news about how well Pigott (named after the first steel-skeleton skyscraper in Hamilton and one of the first in Canada) is doing. We live about an hour from Hamilton, where she hatched, and I followed her progress from hatching until fledging. It’s so nice to see she’s doing so well in spite of a bit of trouble when she first left the nest (she had to be rescued twice, spending over a week in rehab after being injured in a thunderstorm). She’s always been feisty, active and alert, just like her mom.
January 16th, 2014 at 8:53 AM
Hi Kathy! Before we know it, eggs will be appearing and the hatch watch will begin! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
January 16th, 2014 at 9:07 AM
Hi Beth! It is my pleasure to report what is going on with the gorgeous Pigott. She is a joy to watch. 🙂 All the Rochester Watchers love keeping an eye on her. Thanks for letting us know about her history while she was in Hamilton. Dot.ca also had to be rescued after he fledged by Big Frank, who I really miss a lot. So many of our young fledglings come to the ground and need a bit of help. That’s why the Falcon Fledge Watch is so important. When Rhea Mae took her first flight, she ended up at the bottom of one of the High Falls stacks (which no longer exists). She eventually made her way out all by herself under the watchful eye of lots and lots of watchers. Mariah kept watch from the catwalk just above her, making sure she was safe. Quest came to the ground, but refused to be “rescued”. She made her way up to a low building, where a Kestrel dove on her repeatedly. Eventually she made it back to the sky to join her mom, dad, brothers and sisters. Maybe you can come to Rochester someday to see your girl!
January 18th, 2014 at 12:16 AM
Would love to see her “in person”. Beauty and DC as well.
I have a question; DC is quite the ladies man. Assuming he continues hanging out with both Beauty and Pigott and both end up with eggs that (fingers crossed) hatch, he’s going to be one busy falcon. Is this something that happens very often? I know that a single falcon can raise the chicks alone (Peter, who hatched the year before Pigott, raised and fledged 3 chicks on his own after his mate was injured in 2012), but I imagine the “girls” would be pretty annoyed with him disappearing back and forth all the time (to say nothing of the fact that he’d be exhausted).
On another note, Hamilton photographer Barry Cherriere took an amazing photo of Madame X (Pigott’s mom) several years ago. LOVE it! Take a second to look at it. Enjoy!
http://falcons.hamiltonnature.org/HCPPgalleries/wallpaper/mx2009_1920x1080.jpg
January 19th, 2014 at 10:59 PM
That is a fantastic pic Beth! Pigott is still an active, alert falcon and I enjoy sharing space with her! 🙂
January 21st, 2014 at 1:13 PM
Beth – There are cases where there is one tiercel caring for two different nest sites that are successful. So it can be done. Sure will be interesting to see if that happens in Rochester this year.
Beautiful picture! Thanks for sharing!